Wire fabric



w; J. PINE.

WIRE FABRlC.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 18, 1917.

1,336,154. Patented Apr. 6,1920.

-W|TNESSES: I 39" r v \NVENTOR ATTORNEY-F 7 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILIBER. J. PINE, 0F OSHKOSH, WISCONSIN.

WIRE FABRIC.

Specification of LettersPatent.

Patented Apr. 6, 1920.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it lmown'that I, WILBER J. PINE, a citizen of the United States,residing at Oshkosh, county of Winnebago, and State of Wisconsin, haveinvented new and useful Improvements in Wire Fabrics, of which tend toretain a normal flat shape, to avoid undesirable general sagging of thefabric under load strain when used a mattress.

A further object is to provide a wire fabric of comparatively simplenature in which the above-mentioned advantages are secured, and whichmay be formed entirely of bent wire units of similar shape.

A still further object resides in the provision of a wire fabric unitformed of a single length of wire bent to provide both longitudinallyand transversely extending portions, each portion having loops or eyesat its respective ends, loosely connected with otherunits in such amanner as to prevent displacement laterally of the plane of the fabric,while permitting limited play of each unit in all directions relativelyto the others. With the above and other objects and advantages in view,my invention resides more particularly in the novel combination,formation and arrangement of parts hereinafter described and moreparticularly pointed out in the accompanying claims.

In the accompanying drawings:

Figure 1 is a plan View of a section of wire fabric constructed inaccordance with my invention.

Fig. 2 is a sectional view through the fabric upon the line 22 of Fig.1.

Fig. "3 is a view of a modified unit.

Referring now particularly to the drawings, my improved fabric comprisesa series of similar T-shaped units having attaching eyes at the ends oftheir head and shank portions disposed in interlocking relation.

Each of these T-shaped units is formed of a single length of wire, oneportion 5 of which is straight and adapted to be assembled inlongitudinally extending position in the completed fabric. The portion 5terminates at one end in an eye-loop 6 located in a vertical plane andalso constituting one extremity of said length of wire. At the other endof the portion 5, the wire is looped in a horizontal plane to form aneye '7 and then extended across and above the portion 5 in the form of atransversely extending arm 8 looped upon itself to form a laterallyprojected horizontal eye 9 and reversely extended in the form of an arm10 which again crosses the portion 5 (this time on the under sidethereof), and is provided at its laterally projected extremity withanother eye-loop 11 in a vertical plane. The portion of the arm 10 whichextends underneath the shank portion 5 is depressed and forms a saddle12 in which shank 5, adjacent to the loop 7, is supported resiliently,the arms 8 and 10 yielding under vertical pressures applied to'the shank5.

Each unit, composed of the shank 5 and the arms 8 and 10 with therespective loops, is connected up with other units to form the mattressfabric by engaging each vertically disposed loop 6 in the horizontallydisposed loop 7 of the next adjacent unit of a longitudinal series oflike units, and each vertically disposed loop 11 is loosely engaged withthe horizontally disposed loop 9 of another like unit in a transverseseries of such units.

The eyes 6, '7, 9, and'll are sufiiciently large to allow a slidingmovement in curved lines and to also allow resilient fiexion of the wirecomposing the eye, whereby the eye avoids any tendency to produce hardor unyielding spots in the fabric at the points where the units areconnected with each other. By providing for the resiliently supportedsaddles 12, I am enabled to utilize longitudinally extending series ofshanks 5 arranged substantially in line with each other but supportedresiliently at numerous points by the transversely extending arms 10,each of which is not only held in position by the laterally adjacentunits from which it is slung, but also by means of the partialengagement with the shanks 5 through the medium of the saddles 12. Thearms 8 and 10 being integral and not being fixed to the shank portion 5save through the loop 7 at an intermediate point, said arms constitute ahead which is movable relatively to the shank but is held in position bythe resilient loop 7. It is clear that any force applied to the fabricwhich tends to displace loop 9 of one unit would also tend to displaceloop 11 in an opposite direction. But loop 11 can not move withoutimparting motion to loop 9 of the next unit. Thus the resilience of eachunit is aided by those adjacent to it.

Fabric composed of the series of units above described can be easilymanufactured and possesses maximum resiliency at all points whileresisting any tendency to unduly sag in the middle portion thereof, all

parts of the fabric cooperating with all other parts in resisting anundue depression in any given portion of the mattress.

7 Referring to Fig. 3 it will be observed that it is possible to formthe link with its longitudinal strand 5 and the end loops 6 and 7thereof in the same manner as in Fig. 1, but with the portion 8substantially straight and with the eye loop 9 reversed as compared withthe loop 9 in Fig.

1, the arm 10 extending in the opposite direction substantially parallelto the portion 8 and crossing strand 5 on the same side and insubstantially the same plane with the portion 8 The eye loop 11 isformed in the same manner as in Fig. 1. This modified construction doesnot provide the sling or hammock shown at 12 in Fig. 1 and thelongitudinal lines of support therefore tend to yield more freely in bowform than is the case with the construction shown in Fig. 1, unless thefabric is inverted from the position in which the unit is illustrated.

If inverted, it is obvious that both portions 8 and 10 become supportingmembers for the portion 5 1 In either case, however, the connection ofthe cross strands or lines of support with the longitudinal ones iseffective through the portions 8 and the eye loops '7 to resilientlysupport the strands and prevent them from separating.

I claim:

1. A wire fabric comprising a series of resilient integral unitsdirectly connected with each other along both longitudinal andtransverse lines, each unit having a longitudinally extending shankformed of a single length of wire bent to form end eye tudinal andlateral extensions under strains exerted at the points of connectionwith adj acent units, the shank portion and one laterally extending armbeing composed of a single strand, and the other laterally extending armcomprising an elongated loop, one side of which is a continuation of thelaterally extending single strand arm, and the other side of which is inlooped connection With the shank portion of the unit.

4. A wire fabric including longitudinally connected series of units,each unit comprising integrally a shank portion provided with connectingeyes at each end and a transverse portion crossing the shank and havingan eye on each side of said shank, said eyes being adapted to engagewith similar eyes in adjacent units.

5. A wire fabric including longitudinally connected series of units,each unit comprising integrally a shank portion provided with connectingeyes at each end and a transverse portion crossing the shank and havingan eye on each side of said shank, said portions of each unit beingrelatively movable and resiliently secured against each relativemovement.

6. A wire fabric comprising a longitudinally connected series of unitshaving single strand shanks, and laterally projecting arms integrallyconnected with the shanks and interlocked with transversely adjacentunits, the strand composing one arm constituting a continuation of theother across the shank, said arms being adapted for resilient flexionupon relative longitudinal movement of the units in adjacent series.

7 A wire fabric comprising a longitudinally connected series of unitshaving single strand shanks, and laterally projecting arms integrallyconnected with the shanks and interlocked with transversely adjacentunits, the strand comprising one arm constituting a continuation of theother, across point, and constituting a saddle for the extended acrossthe straight portion, and 10 other strand. looped in a vertical plane.

8. In a wire fabric, a piece of wire hav- In testimony whereof I aiiiXmy signature ing a straight portion looped at its respeein the presenceof two witnesses. tive ends in vertical and horizontal planes,

and extended from the horizontal loop WILBER PINE across the straightportion, and again looped WVitnesses: in a horizontal plane to provide alaterally WV. H. CARDIFF,

extending arm, one side of which is again DAN J. MCDERMOTT.

